Ball stuffing machine with a pair of ball enclosing separable members having latching means releasable by predetermined pressure of stuffing within ball



Sept. 19, 1950 w. D. YOUNG 2,523,175

BALL STUFFING MACHINE WITH A PAIR OF BALL ENCLOSING SEPARABLE MEMBERS HAVING LATCHING MEANS RELEASABLE BY PREDETERMINED PRESSURE OF STUFFING WITHIN BALL Filed May 1,. 1945 7 Sheets-Sheet l 3 wu 0n two I Mal/4M 0' Vow/0 Sept. 19, 1950 w. D. YOUNG 2,523,176

BALL STUFFING MACHINE WITH A PAIR OF BALL ENCLOSING SEPARABLE MEMBERS HAVING LATCHING MEANS RELEASABLE BY PREDETERMINED PRESSURE 0F STUFFING WITHIN BALL Filed May 1, 1945 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 EMM p 1950 w. D. YOUNG 2,523,176

BALL STUFFING MACHINE WITH A PAIR OF BALL ENCLOSING SEPARABLE MEMBERS HAVING LATCHING MEANS RELEASABLE BY PREDETERMINED PRESSURE 0F STUFFING WITHIN BALL Filed May 1, 1945 7 Sheets-Sheet a Sept. 19, 1950 w. D. YOUNG 2, BALL STUFFING MACHINE WITH A PAIR OF BALL ENCLOSING SEPARABLE MEMBERS HAVING LATCHING MEANS RELEASABLE BY PREDETERMINED PRESSURE 0F STUFF'ING WITHIN BALL Filed May 1, 1945 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 M 12/ F P17 150 I25 I E A FJg=7 //s //9 I cum/4M0. Vow/6 MAJM Sept. 19, 1950 w. D. YOUNG 2,523,176

BALL STUFFING MACHINE WITH A PAIR OF BALL ENCLOSING SEPARABLE MEMBERS HAVING LATQHING MEANS RELEASABLE BY PREDETERMINED PRESSURE 0F STUFF ING WITHIN BALL Filed May 1, 1945 7 Sheets-Sheet s w. D. YOUNG 2,523,176 m: WITH A PAIR OF BALL ENCLOSING mwmc LATCHING umus RELEASABLE PRESSURE 0F sTuFFmc WITHIN BALL Sept. 19, 1950 BALL STUFFING MACH ssnmu: muarzas BY PREDETERMINED Filed May 1, 1945 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Sept. 19, 1950 w. D. YOUNG 2,523,176

BALL STUFFING MACHINE WITH A PAIR OF BALL ENCLOSING SEPARABLE mans mwmc LATCHING MEANS RELEASABLE BY PREDETERMINED PRESSURE 0F STUFFING WITHIN BALL Filed May 1, 1945 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Patented Sept. 19, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE William D. Young, Greenvillc, S. 0.

Application May 1, 1945, Serial No. 591,380

This invention relates to a machine for stuffing containers with fibrous, resilient, or waste material or any other suitable material, to be hereinafter referred to as stuffing material, to form toys such as play balls, soft balls, animal figures and the like. These containers are usually made of fabric, leather and the like and are usually made from sewing a plurality of pieces together, leavin a small opening through which the material is forced to stuff the container with stuffing material such as wool waste, cotton waste, tvegetable fibers, small pieces of rubber and the like, any and all of such material being hereinafter referred to as stuffing material.

It is the object of this invention to provide a machine having a nozzle with screw means for feeding stuffing material such as wool waste, cotton waste, vegetable fibers, small pieces of rubber and the like into the'container or shell until the stuffing material has reached a predetermined density at which time the mold holding the ball or other object being stuffed automatically opens and the machine automatically stops.

It is another object of this inventionto provide a. machine for stufiing play balls, toys and the like comprising a hopper into which stuffing material is adapted to be placed together with screw means for feedin the stuifing material into a converging cone, said cone having a nozzle with the screw member extending there- 7 Claims. (01. 226-19) into and a flexible shell for a ball, toy figure and. the like, is adapted to be placed over the nozzle and the waste material is fed thereinto and a separable mold encases the ball being stuffed and the stuffing material is stufied into the ball until it is stuifed to a pre-determined density at which time the mold automatically opens and the machine automatically stops and the ball or other toy figure is removed from the mold ready to be finished by sewing up the small opening left in the shell being stuffed and through which the stuffing operation has been effected.

It is another object of this invention to provide a machine for stuffing objects such as flexible shells for play balls, soft balls, toy figures and'the'like, said objects bein composed of a flexible shell such as artificial leather, leather, fabric, and the like, which is usually sewed together from a plurality of pieces, leaving a small Jpening through which the ball is adapted to 1e filled with stuffing material such as vegetable ibrous material, waste wool, waste cotton, granuated rubber and the like. The machine em- 2 bodiesa nozzle with screw means for feeding the stuffing material from a suitable hopper into the nozzle and the small opening left in the shell is inserted over this nozzle and the shell is surrounded by a suitable spring pressed mold, with suitable detents for holding the mold in closed position to hold the shell while it is stuffed to the desired shape, and when the shell has been stuffed with the stuffing material until a preetermined amount of stuffing material has been stuffed into the ball, then the molds separate due to the increased pressure of the material being stuffed into the shell and the molds open and the machine automatically stops so that the finished stuffed article can be removed from the molds.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine;

Figure 2 is an end elevation looking from the lefthand side of Figure 1; ,Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken subs'tantially along the lines of 33 in Figure 2;

Figure el is an end elevation looking at the left-- hand end of the machine in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a top-plan view of the machine;

i,,-;Fig"ure 6 is an enlarged, detailed view of the lower central portion of Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a reverse or bottom-plan view of the structure shown in Figure 6;

Figure 8 is an enlarged detailed view of the upper right hand portion of Figure 2 but showing the mechanism on a larger scale;

Figure 9 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line 99 of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is an isomeric view of the base portion of the mold which fits around the nozzle; "'Figure 1.1 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the mold and the nozzle and converging cone and screw for forcing the material into the bag within the mold; Figure 12 is an enlarged detailed elevation of the upper right hand portion of Figure 8;

Figure 13 is an end elevation looking at the left hand portion ofFigure l2 and from substantially along the line l3-l3 in Figure 12; I

"Figure 14 is an elevation showing the shafting section of the cam means shown in Figure with a portion broken away;

Figure 15 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the converging cone member and the nozzle associated therewith and showing the conical, rotary stuffing member associated therewith;

Figure 16 is an isometric view showing that portion of the mold disposed next to the machine and showing the hand of an operator holding an empty ball covering over the nozzle during the preliminary stages of the stufiing the ball covering full of waste material;

Figure 1'7 is an isometric view of the figure after it has been stuffed by this machine and removed therefrom and before the opening through which it was stuffed has been closed by a sewing operation;

Figure 18 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken through the clutch, and associated parts.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numerals I and II indicate the front posts of the machine, I2 and I3 indicate the rear posts. The rear posts are joined together by upper and lower horizontal struts I5 and I6 and the front posts are joined together by a board-like member I8 towards the top thereof. Strut I6 has an uprising board 28 resting thereon which serves as the rear end of the hopper. The sides of the hopper are indicated at 2I and 22. The front leg I0 and rear leg I2 are joined together by a horizontal strut 23 and the front leg II and rear leg I3 are joined together by a horizontal strut 24. The hopper has a sloping bottom 21 which slopes forwardly and joins to a small horizontal portion 28 which forms the bottom of the hopper into which the stuffing material such as waste wool, waste cotton, vegetable fibers, granulated rubber or any other suitable fibrous material in bulk may be placed.

A suitable electric motor 30 is mounted on the floor 3| and this has a V-pulley 32 thereon which has a V-belt 33 mounted thereon which in turn is mounted on a V-pulley 34, mounted on a shaft 35 which is rotatably mounted in bearings 36 and 31. These bearings 38 and 31 are mounted on cross members 38 and 39 supported by members 23 and 24. Shaft 35 has on the other end thereof a V-pulley 40 on which is mounted a V-belt 4 I, which in turn is mounted on a V-pulley 42 which is fixedly mounted on a main shaft 45, that is rotatably mounted in bearings 46 and 41. Bearing 46 is mounted on the horizontal bottom member 28, and bearing 4'! is secured to the lower edge of strut I6. The main shaft 45 on the exterior of the machine has fixed thereon a V-pulley 50 which has a V-belt 5I thereon which is also mounted on a very much larger V-pulley 52 fixedly secured on a stirrer shaft 53, which stirrer shaft is mounted at one end in a bearing 54 mounted on top of board 20 and the other end is rotatably mounted in a portion of board I8. Stirrer shaft 53 has a conically shaped stirrer member 55 which has a plurality of prongs 56 thereon for stirring the stuffing material in the hopper to cause it to feed into the cone stuffing apparatus which will be presently described.

The main shaft 45 has slidably mounted thereon a collar 60 which fits against a clutch member 6|, this member BI having a keyway 62 thereon into which a key 63, mounted in shaft 45, slidably fits and loosely mounted on shaft 45 is the other half 65 of the clutch member which is secured on shaft 45. A collar 68 is fixedly secured on shaft 45 to withstand the pressure when clutch member (BI i moved against clutch member 65.

The adjoining surfaces of clutch members GI and 65 are faced with suitable friction materials 68 and 69. Surrounding the member 60 and pivota11y secured thereto as at 12 is a member 13 which is pivoted at its upper end as at 14 to a strut I5 which is fixed at its other end to the rear wall member 20. This member I3 projects downwardly and loosely passes between a pair of extended pins 11 and I8 which pins are fixedly mounted in a sliding bar which is slidably mounted in guide members 8| and 82 which are secured on downwardly depending angle members 83 and 84.

A strengthening member 85 is also secured to the angle bars 83 and 84. The lower end of member I3 is pivotally connected as at 81 to a clutch rod 88 which is also slidably mounted in a bearing 89 secured to the lower edge of board I8. The clutch rod projects forwardly and has a pair of collars 9| and 92 adjustably secured thereon.

Mounted on angle member 93 is a pulley 94 over which a cable 95 passes, the upper end of this cable being secured as at 96 to sliding bar 80. Sliding bar 60 is normally pulled toward the front of the machine by means of a tension spring 91. The cable 95 passes downwardly and has its lower end secured to a treadle member I00 as at I0 I, the treadle member I00 being pivotally connected as at I02 to a block I03 which is secured to the floor 3I. The angle bar 84 is secured by means of suitable bolts I05 to a cross bar I06 extending transversely of the frame work of the machine. Other transverse bars I01 and I08 are secured transversely of the machine to support the bottom member 28.

The front board member I8 has secured across the top portion thereof a sheet metal member I09 to increase the height of the front end of the hopper. Pivotally secured at its lower end to an angle bracket IIO is a bar III. This bar has welded thereto a reenforcing bar H2. The collars 9I and 92 are disposed on the outer edges of these bars III and H2. Bar III projects upwardly and has fixedly secured on the upper end thereof a forked fitting II4 which has pivotally secured thereto as at II5 a bell crank dog II3 having a portion IIS on its longer end H8 and having a cam projection III on its shorter leg II9, the operation of which will be presently described.

Fixedly secured to the front wall I8 is a pair of angle bars I2I and I22. Rotatably secured between the outer ends of angle bars I2I and I22 is a shaft I23 which has secured thereon a cam member I24. A lever I25 is also fixedly secured on shaft I23 so that cam member I24 and lever I25 move together at all times. This cam member I24 has a notch I26 providing a tongue I21 which is engaged by the tongue II6 on the end I I8 of bell crank lever I I3. Cam member I24 has a projection I28 provided with a set screw I29 which is adapted to engage the sloping surface I30 of the longer arm II8 of bell crank II3 when a pre-determined amount of pressure has been built up within the shell during a stuffing operation.

The bell crank H3 is biased to engage tongue I21 by means of a tension spring I32 secured at one end thereto and having its other end secured to bracket I I4. The lever I25 has secured thereto one end of a tension spring I35 whose other end is secured to a spring perch I36 whose other end is secured to angle bar I20. Secured to front wall I8 is a leaf spring member I31 whose upper end is adapted to engage a notch I38 in the upper end of the lever I25 to hold it in set position as shown in Figure 8 until a pre-determined amount of pressure causes the release of tongue II6 from tongue I21.

The bars I2I' and I22 are reenforced by means of apairof bars I40 and I M having their lower ends secured to vertical strap members I43 and I44 and the upper ends are secured to the horizontal bars I2I and I22. Shaft 45 has a coupling I50 on the end thereof to which is coupled shaft I5I of a conically shaped screw conveyor I52 which-has a spiral vane I53 thereon terminating in a cylindrical or auger portion I54. This conical screw conveyor is surrounded by a conical housing I56 also having a spiral rib I51 on its interior surface cooperating with the spiral rib on vane I53 :on the conical screw conveyor I52. The augerlike portion I54 is surrounded by a cylindrical nozzle member I58 which is secured by means of screws J 59 to the restricted open end of the conical housing I56. It is over this cylindrical portion I58 that an opening I45 in a shell I46, to be stuffed is adapted to be fitted so as to convey the stufiing material into the interior of the ball, toy, orother flexible container which is to be stuffed by the machine.

The ball shell I46 is composed of a plurality of segments I41 sewed together. The proximate edges of two adjacent segments have each a row of stitches I48 formed therein before or after the segments are stitched together at their end portions. This leaves the opening I45 through which the waste fibers I49 are stufied. When the shell is stuffed it is taken from the molds and appears as shown in Figure 17. Then a needle and thread can be'passed through the stitches I48 to close the opening I45.

The conical housing I56 is secured at its larger open end to the front wall I8 by means of a plurality of straps I6I which have one end secured to the housing I 56 by means of rivets or bolts I62 and bolts I63 at the other ends are embedded in the front wall I8 to hold the conical housing I56 in position over a circular opening I65 in front wall .IB andthrough whichthe'stufling material is fed from the hopper and by the screw conveyor into the article being stuffed.

One half of a mold member I1I has secured to opposed sides thereof rectangular members I13 and I14 which have suitable holes therein which are penetrated by the rods. I69 and I10. A pair of rods I 69 and I have one of their ends secured to bars I66 and I61. The rods I69 and. I10 have collars I and I16 adjustably secured thereon for limiting the movement of the mold portion I1I toward the wall I8 under the influence of tension springs I18 and I19 which are secured at one end to pins I80 and I8I on members I13 and I14 and the:.other ends are secured to spring perches I82 and I83 securedto the front wall I8 of the machine. The outer ends of rods I69 and I10 are supported by a bar I68, which is supported by bars I12 and I64.

The mold portion I1I of the mold has a concave portion'l85 which has an opening in its central portion which'is adapted to slidably fit over the cylindrical portion I58 secured to the discharge end of the conical housing I56.

Pivotally secured as at I90 and I9I on the members I13 and I14 are bell crank dogs I92 and I93. The horizontal portion of these dogs has a notch I84 for engaging a pin to be presently described. The uprising legs of the dogs I92 and I93 have fixedly secured thereto the two legs of an inverted U-shaped member I94.

Secured to the central upper surface of U- shaped member I94 is an angle bracket I95 which slidablyreceives a shaft I96 which has its other end fixedly secured to the front wall I8 of the machine. secured thereon to limit outward movementof angle bracket I95 and U-shaped member I94.

There is another collar I98 fixedly secured on shaft I96 and between collar I98 and angle bracket I 95 is a compression spring I99 surround ing the shaft I96 and normally urging the .U- shaped member and its associateddogs in a clockwise direction in Figure 8.

A second portion of the mold 200 has a semi.- circular concavity 20I inthe surface thereof which is proximate to the concave portion I85, the two concave portions I and MI being complementary to forma cavity of the dimension desired for accommodating the article to be stuffed. This portio 200 of the mold has a adapted to fit into the notches I84 on thehori-' zontal leg portions of dogs I92 and I93.

It will be observed that the notches I in the dog members I92 and. I93 slope downwardly and outwardlyandthis, angle of slope is made to correspond with the strength of compression spring I99 so that when the proper pressure has been built up in the article being stuffed in the mold, the outer portion 200 of the mold 200 will be moved outwardl to cause the horizontal portion of dogs I92 and, I93 to rise upwardly to allow the mold section 200 :to move away from mold section I1I,'but before this happens it is evident that the pressure. will have moved mold section x i1! away from the conical housing I56 to a certaindegree before they are automatically sepa-, rated'by'the pins 201 and 208 sliding out of the notches I84 in the dogs I92 and I93, respectively. Immediately after the dogs release the pins 201 and 298.,respectively, the pressure built up within the mold causes the mold 200 to strike the bars III and H2. ,While the molds are being pushed l away from the wall I8 of the machine during a stuffing operation, cam member I24 will be rotating to a slight degree also, so that immediately after the two molds completely separate the set= screw I 29 will have engaged the sloping'surface I39 to release tongue I21. Immediately after this happens the outer mold 200 continues to move outwardly'to strike bars H2 and III and will move the clutch rod 88 to stop the machine. In the drawings and'specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are em- I ployed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only; and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim: 1. In a machine for stuffing objects having a flexible covering provided with an opening; a hopper for holding stufiing material, an opening in,

one side of thehopperhaving a funnel shaped member covering theopening; thesmallerend:

of the funnel shaped member havingsa nozzle, a screw member mounted in the funne1 shaped member and projecting into the nozzle, 2. pair of separable molds, one of Whichhaving a hole therethrough, through which the nozzle projects, the opening in the covering being adapted. to be This shaft I96 has a collar I91 fixedly These members 205 and 206 have outinserted over the nozzle, the molds being adapted to be moved to enclose the covering while the same is stuffed full of the stuffing material, means for latching the two molds together, predetermined pressure responsive means for releasing the latching means when a predetermined pressure is built up by stuffing the material into the cover, the predetermined pressure of the material forcing the molds to separate after release of the latching means, and means operable by the separation of the molds for automatically stopping the machine.

'2. Apparatus for stufiing objects having a flexible covering, provided with an opening, such as play balls, toys and the like, comprising a hopper for holding stufling material, said hopper having an opening therein, a tapering hollow member having a nozzle on its smaller end, and means for securing its larger end over said opening, a screw member mounted in the tapering member, means for rotating the screw member to force the stuffing material through the tapering hollow member, a pair of separable members, the proximate surfaces of said members each having a cavity therein which collectively conform to the shape of the object to be stuffed, one of said members having a hole extending from its cavity to its remote side and penetrated by said nozzle of the tapering hollow member, the

covering of the object to be stuffed being adapted to have its opening inserted over the nozzle of the tapering hollow member, movable means for latching the separable members together to form the cavity for shaping the object to be stuffed, means responsive to a predetermined amount of pressure of material within the covering for unlatching the latching means to allow the members to move apart from each other, and means operable by movement of the separable members apart from each other for automatically stopping rotation of the screw member.

3. Apparatus for stuffing a suitable flexible covering having an opening therein to form an object such as a play ball, toy and the like, comprising a hopper having a hole therein for holding stufling material, a funnel-shaped member having its larger end secured to the exterior of the hopper and covering said hole, a screw mounted in the hopper and extending into the funnel-shaped member, means for rotating the screw, a pair of separable retaining members each having a cavity in their proximate surfaces, one of which is provided with a bore for receiving the discharge end of the funnel-shaped member, the cavities and the retaining members when they are moved in face to face relation forming a closed cavity of the shape of the object to be stuffed, the opening in the covering being adapted to be inserted over the smaller end of the funnel-shaped member, movable means for latching the two separable members together, means responsive to a predetermined pressure in the material within the flexible covering for moving the latching means to unlatching position, and means engageable by one of the separable retaining members when it is moved to separated position relative to the other retaining member by the pressure of the material in the stuffed article for automatically stopping the means for rotating the screw.

4. Apparatus for stuffing a flexible covering havin an opening therein with stuffing material comprising a pair of separable retaining members each having a cavity in their proximate surfaces to form a compartment for the covering being stuffed, one of the members having a hole therethrough, means projecting through said hole and through the opening in said covering for forcing stufiing material through said openin into the covering to fill the covering with stuffing material while disposed in the cavity formed by said retaining members, means for latching the two retaining members together, means responsive to a predetermined amount of pressure of the material within the covering for unlatching the latching means to allow the two retaining members to move apart from each other and means operable by the movement of the retaining members apart from each other for automatically stopping the means for forcing stufiing material into the covering.

5. Apparatus for forcing stuffing material into a suitable flexible container having an opening therein which comprises two juxtaposed separable retaining members having a cavity in at least one of their proximate surfaces to conform to the shape of the object being stuffed, one of the retaining members having a hole therethrough communicating with said cavity, means for latching the retaining members together, means for forcin stuffing material through the hole in one of the retaining members and through the opening in the container, means responsive to a predetermined pressure of the material within the flexible container for unlatching the latching means to allow the retaining members to move apart from each other, and means controlled by the movement of one of the retaining members when the retaining members are unlatched from each other for automatically stoppin the means for forcing the stuffing material into the container.

6. Apparatus for forcing fibrous material into a flexible covering havin an opening therein for forming an object such as a play ball, toy and the like, comprising a hopper for holding the fibrous material, a pair of separable retaining members having a cavity in the proximate surfaces of at least one of the retaining members of a shape conforming to the object being stuffed, one of the retaining members having a hole therethrough, a funnel-shaped member having its larger end secured to the exterior of the hopper and said hopper having an opening therein forming communication between the funnel-shaped member and the interior of the hopper, a screw member mounted in the funnelshaped member for forcing fibrous material through the funnel-shaped member and through the hole in one of the retaining members and into the covering disposed in the cavity between the separable retaining members, means for rotating the screw member, means for latching the two retaining members together, control means for the screw drivin means, means for latching the control means in a position to connect the screw to a suitable power driven means, resilient means holding the control means in latched position, means responsive to a predetermined pressure of the material within the flexible covering for unlatching the first latchin means to allow the two retaining members to move apart from each other to exert pressure on the control means to move its latching means to unlatching position, and to move the control means to disconnect the screw means from its driving means.

7. Apparatus for stuffing a flexible covering for a play ball, toy and the like, said covering having an opening therein, means for forcing fibrous 9 material through the opening in the covering to stufi the same full of stufiing material, a pair 01' movably mounted retaining members recessed on their proximate sides to form a cavity when they are moved together for shaping the covering being stuffed full of material, means for latching the retaining members together during a stuffing operation, pressure responsive means for holding the latching means in latching position, the pressure responsive means being 0perable by a predetermined amount of pressure of the material within the covering to unlatch the latching means, and means operable by movement of the retaining members to separat- 10 ed position for stopping the means for forcing the fibrous material into the covering.

WILLIAM D. YOUNG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 811,095 Roop Jan. 30, 1906 865,107 Kidwell Sept. 23, 1907 2,130,005 Gay Sept. 13, 1938 

